A number of patents and publications are cited herein in order to more fully describe and disclose the invention and the state of the art to which the invention pertains. Each of these references is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety into the present disclosure, to the same extent as if each individual reference was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.
Throughout this specification, including the claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word “comprise,” and variations such as “comprises” and “comprising,” will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps.
It must be noted that, as used in the specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a pharmaceutical carrier” includes mixtures of two or more such carriers, and the like.
Ranges are often expressed herein as from “about” one particular value, and/or to “about” another particular value. When such a range is expressed, another embodiment includes from the one particular value and/or to the other particular value. Similarly, when values are expressed as approximations, by the use of the antecedent “about,” it will be understood that the particular value forms another embodiment.
Any sub-titles herein are included for convenience only, and are not to be construed as limiting the disclosure in any way.
Conditions of dementia are frequently characterised by a progressive accumulation of intracellular and/or extracellular deposits of proteinaceous structures such as β-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) in the brains of affected patients. The appearance of these lesions largely correlates with pathological neurofibrillary degeneration and brain atrophy, as well as with cognitive impairment (see, e.g., Mukaetova-Ladinska, E. B. et al., 2000, Am. J. Pathol., Vol. 157, No. 2, pp. 623-636).
In Alzheimer's disease, both neuritic plaques and NFTs contain paired helical filaments (PHFs), of which a major constituent is the microtubule-associated protein tau (see, e.g., Wischik et al., 1988, PNAS USA, Vol. 85, pp. 4506-4510). Plaques also contain extracellular β-amyloid fibrils derived from the abnormal processing of amyloid precursor protein (APP) (see, e.g., Kang et al., 1987, Nature, Vol. 325, p. 733). An article by Wischik et al. (in ‘Neurobiology of Alzheimer's Disease’, 2nd Edition, 2000, Eds. Dawbarn, D. and Allen, S. J., The Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology Series, Bios Scientific Publishers, Oxford) discusses in detail the putative role of tau protein in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative dementias. Loss of the normal form of tau, accumulation of pathological PHFs, and loss of synapses in the mid-frontal cortex all correlate with associated cognitive impairment. Furthermore, loss of synapses and loss of pyramidal cells both correlate with morphometric measures of tau-reactive neurofibrillary pathology, which parallels, at a molecular level, an almost total redistribution of the tau protein pool from a soluble to a polymerised form (i.e., PHFs) in Alzheimer's disease.
Tau exists in alternatively-spliced isoforms, which contain three or four copies of a repeat sequence corresponding to the microtubule-binding domain (see, e.g., Goedert, M., et al., 1989, EMBO J., Vol. 8, pp. 393-399; Goedert, M., et al., 1989, Neuron, Vol. 3, pp. 519-526). Tau in PHFs is proteolytically processed to a core domain (see, e.g., Wischik, C. M., et al., 1988, PNAS USA, Vol. 85, pp. 4884-4888; Wischik et al., 1988, PNAS USA, Vol. 85, pp. 4506-4510; Novak, M., et al., 1993, EMBO J., Vol. 12, pp. 365-370) which is composed of a phase-shifted version of the repeat domain; only three repeats are involved in the stable tau-tau interaction (see, e.g., Jakes, R., et al., 1991, EMBO J., Vol. 10, pp. 2725-2729). Once formed, PHF-like tau aggregates act as seeds for the further capture and provide a template for proteolytic processing of full-length tau protein (see, e.g., Wischik et al., 1996, PNAS USA, Vol. 93, pp. 11213-11218).
The phase shift which is observed in the repeat domain of tau incorporated into PHFs suggests that the repeat domain undergoes an induced conformational change during incorporation into the filament. During the onset of AD, it is envisaged that this conformational change could be initiated by the binding of tau to a pathological substrate, such as damaged or mutated membrane proteins (see, e.g., Wischik, C. M., et al., 1997, in “Microtubule-associated proteins: modifications in disease”, Eds. Avila, J., Brandt, R. and Kosik, K. S. (Harwood Academic Publishers, Amsterdam) pp. 185-241).
In the course of their formation and accumulation, PHFs first assemble to form amorphous aggregates within the cytoplasm, probably from early tau oligomers which become truncated prior to, or in the course of, PHF assembly (see, e.g., Mena, R., et al., 1995, Acta Neuropathol., Vol. 89, pp. 50-56; Mena, R., et al., 1996, Acta Neuropathol., Vol. 91, pp. 633-641). These filaments then go on to form classical intracellular NFTs. In this state, the PHFs consist of a core of truncated tau and a fuzzy outer coat containing full-length tau (see, e.g., Wischik et al., 1996, PNAS USA, Vol. 93, pp. 11213-11218). The assembly process is exponential, consuming the cellular pool of normal functional tau and inducing new tau synthesis to make up the deficit (see, e.g., Lai, R. Y. K., et al., 1995, Neurobiology of Ageing, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 433-445). Eventually, functional impairment of the neurone progresses to the point of cell death, leaving behind an extracellular NFT. Cell death is highly correlated with the number of extracellular NFTs (see, e.g., Wischik et al., in ‘Neurobiology of Alzheimer's Disease’, 2nd Edition, 2000, Eds. Dawbarn, D. and Allen, S. J., The Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology Series, Bios Scientific Publishers, Oxford). As tangles are extruded into the extracellular space, there is progressive loss of the fuzzy outer coat of the neurone with corresponding loss of N-terminal tau immunoreactivity, but preservation of tau immunoreactivity associated with the PHF core (see, e.g., Bondareff, W. et al., 1994, J. Neuropath. Exper. Neurol., Vol. 53, No. 2, pp. 158-164).
Diaminophenothiazine Compounds
Methythioninium Chloride (MTC) (also known as Methylene blue (MB); methylthionine chloride; tetramethylthionine chloride; 3,7-bis(dimethylamino) phenothiazin-5-ium chloride; C.I. Basic Blue 9; tetramethylthionine chloride; 3,7-bis(dimethylamino) phenazathionium chloride; Swiss blue; C.I. 52015; C.I. Solvent Blue 8; aniline violet; and Urolene Blue®) is a low molecular weight (319.86), water soluble, tricyclic organic compound of the following formula:

Methythioninium Chloride (MTC) is a well known phenothiazine dye and redox indicator and has also been used as an optical probe of biophysical systems, as an intercalator in nanoporous materials, as a redox mediator, and in photoelectrochromic imaging.
Methythioninium chloride (MTC) and other diaminophenothiazines have been described as inhibitors of protein aggregation in diseases in which proteins aggregate pathologically.
In particular, diaminopenothiazines including MTC have been shown to inhibit tau protein aggregation and to disrupt the structure of PHFs, and reverse the proteolytic stability of the PHF core (see, e.g., WO 96/30766, Hofmann-La Roche). Such compounds were disclosed for use in the treatment or prophylaxis of various diseases, including Alzheimer's disease.
WO2007/110630 (WisTa Laboratories Ltd) also discloses certain specific diaminophenothiazine compounds related to MTC, including ETC, DEMTC, DMETC, DEETC, MTZ, ETZ, MTI, MTILHI, ETI, ETLHI, MTN, and ETN, which are useful as drugs, for example in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
Additionally, WO 2005/030676 (The University Court of the University of Aberdeen) discusses radiolabelled phenothiazines, and their use in diagnosis and therapy, for example, of tauopathies.
Methythioninium chloride (MTC) has also been disclosed for other medical uses. For example it is currently used to treat methemoglobinemia (a condition that occurs when the blood cannot deliver oxygen where it is needed in the body). MTC is also used as a medical dye (for example, to stain certain parts of the body before or during surgery); a diagnostic (for example, as an indicator dye to detect certain compounds present in urine); a mild urinary antiseptic; a stimulant to mucous surfaces; a treatment and preventative for kidney stones; and in the diagnosis and treatment of melanoma.
MTC has been used to treat malaria, either singly (see, e.g., Guttmann, P. and Ehrlich, P., 1891, “Uber die wirkung des methylenblau bei malaria,” Berl. Klin. Woschenr., Vol. 28, pp. 953-956) or in combination with chloroquine (see, e.g., Schirmer, H., et al., 2003, “Methylene blue as an antimalarial agent,” Redox Report, Vol. 8, pp. 272-275; Rengelshausen, J., et al., 2004, “Pharmacokinetic interaction of chloroquine and methylene blue combination against malaria,” European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, Vol. 60, pp. 709-715).
MTC (under the name Virostat®, from Bioenvision Inc., New York) has also shown potent viricidal activity in vitro. Specifically Virostat® is effective against viruses such as HIV and West Nile Virus in laboratory tests. Virostat® is also currently in clinical trials for the treatment of chronic Hepatitis C, a viral infection of the liver. The virus, HCV, is a major cause of acute hepatitis and chronic liver disease, including cirrhosis and liver cancer.
MTC, when combined with light, can also prevent the replication of nucleic acid (DNA or RNA). Plasma, platelets and red blood cells do not contain nuclear DNA or RNA. When MTC is introduced into the blood components, it crosses bacterial cell walls or viral membrane then moves into the interior of the nucleic acid structure. When activated with light, the compound then binds to the nucleic acid of the viral or bacterial pathogen, preventing replication of the DNA or RNA. Because MTC can inactivate pathogens, it has the potential to reduce the risk of transmission of pathogens that would remain undetected by testing.
Oral and parenteral formulations of MTC have been commercially available in the United States, usually under the name Urolene Blue®.
Reduced (‘Leuco’) Forms
MTC, a phenothiazin-5-ium salt, may be considered to be an “oxidized form” in relation to the corresponding 10H-phenothiazine compound, N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl-10H-phenothiazine-3,7-diamine, which may be considered to be a “reduced form”:

The “reduced form” (or “leuco form”) is known to be unstable and can be readily and rapidly oxidized to give the corresponding “oxidized” form.
May et al. (Am J Physiol Cell Physiol, 2004, Vol. 286, pp. C1390-C1398) have shown that human erythrocytes sequentially reduce and take up MTC; that MTC itself is not taken up by the cells; that it is the reduced form of MTC that crosses the cell membrane; that the rate of uptake is enzyme dependent; and that both MTC and reduced MTC are concentrated in cells (reduced MTC re-equilibrates once inside the cell to form MTC).
MTC and similar drugs are taken up in the gut and enter the bloodstream. Unabsorbed drug percolates down the alimentary canal, to the distal gut. One important undesired side-effect is the effect of the unabsorbed drug in the distal gut, for example, sensitisation of the distal gut and/or antimicrobial effects of the unabsorbed drug on flora in the distal gut, both leading to diarrhoea. Therefore, it is desirable to minimize the amount of drug that percolates to the distal gut. By increasing the drug's uptake in the gut (i.e., by increasing the drug's bioavailability), dosage may be reduced, and the undesired side-effects, such as diarrhoea, may be ameliorated.
Since it is the reduced form of MTC that is taken up by cells, it may be desirable to administer the reduced form to patients. This may also reduce reliance on the rate limiting step of enzymatic reduction.
WO 02/055720 (The University Court of the University of Aberdeen) discloses the use of reduced forms of certain diaminophenothiazines for the treatment of protein aggregating diseases, primarily tauopathies.
WO2007/110627 (WisTa Laboratories Ltd) disclosed certain 3,7-diamino-10H-phenothiazinium salts, effective as drugs or pro-drugs for the treatment of diseases including Alzheimer's disease. These compounds are also in the “reduced” or “leuco” form when considered in respect of MTC. These included the following salts:

Although providing certain advantages over the use of MTC, the synthesis of LMT.2HCl under certain conditions may result in CH3Cl being trapped within the crystal. This then needs to be removed since CH3Cl is toxic and levels need to be kept below safety levels.
Furthermore LMT.2HBr contains bromide ions. This is in principle less desirable since bromide is toxic either at high levels or with chronic dosing and, at lower levels, can causes side effects such as confusion in patients.
Therefore it can be seen the provision of further salts of methylthioninium compounds, having one or more desirable properties over those already known, would be a contribution to the art.
Furthermore the provision of novel formulations of methylthioninium compounds which enhance stability, absorption, and\or otherwise improve their effectiveness as therapeutics would be a contribution to the art.